


Palms

by RebelVakarian



Category: Dragon Age Origins
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-28
Updated: 2017-03-28
Packaged: 2018-10-12 02:27:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10480020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RebelVakarian/pseuds/RebelVakarian
Summary: Smiling at her Alistair took a knee and took both of her hands in his, “We sort of… stumbled into each other, and despite this being the least perfect time, I still found myself falling for you in between all of the fighting and everything else. I really don’t want to wait anymore. “He paused, swallowing hard, “I’ve… I’ve never done this before. You know that. I want it to be with you… while we have the chance. In case…” He looked away, suddenly becoming stricken by the very real possibility that one of them, or both of them could be gone at any given time.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, yall it's currently 5:40 am, but thankfully for once I don't have work in the morning (just take the 6 in the morning bit as an aside to bear with me.) I'm still dyslexic. *insert gun emoji pointed at laughing emoji* but I love writing, and this really helps me a lot. I've been very reluctant to post in this particular fandom for a long time because it was actually my first love as a video game, and there is a huge weight on trying to get everything perfect because it means so much to me, butttttttt I think I am finally happy with this! So please enjoy! ANY Kudos/Comment are so loved, ya'll guys don't understand, I check this shit daily. Just please keep in mind that I do have a learning disability, but helpful criticism is always amazing and greatly appreciated. I'd also like to add that if ya'll enjoy this please let me know because I'm toying with the idea of making this (or another fic) into a multi chapter. Anywho, I hope ya'll like it because I had a lot of fun writing it! *Disclaimer, I don't own anything!!*

His palms grew clammy as he paced back and forth, wearing a little trail into the dirt as he ranted endlessly to himself. He just couldn’t get this right could he!? And by the Maker, he just had to get this right.. Why was it that finding the right words had to be so difficult? The right phrasing to tell her in a way that wouldn’t get him maimed, or at least badly bruised. He loved her, that was all it was, right? A declaration of love shouldn’t be frightening, should it? Alistair worried his hands. He was completely and utterly screwed wasn’t he? 

He had know for a little while as it were. The trek back from Ostagar, the second time around, being almost unbearable with the new found knowledge. And.. Well, it was starting to take everything he had not to just come out and say it. 

But Maker, he had just had to say it! He simply had to tell her, he couldn’t bare the thought of going another night without her, but he just couldn’t-

“Ahh!” Alistair stopped abruptly, both hands coming up to run through his copper hair as he stared hard at the ground. He’d be lucky if he even got to face the archdemon at this point. He might just perish from pure frustration. 

Blinking several times, he thought back to when he’d given her the rose. The words had come so clearly, he’d just looked at it and at her, and it well, was… her. 

Suddenly he felt very foolish, laughing loudly to himself as he covered his eyes. He’d been spending so much time worrying about the right way to do it, the right way to say it. He’d completely forgotten the ‘who’ he was trying to saying it to to begin with.

Turning away with a slight skip in his step, he headed up the little path that lead to the camp. He wasn’t afraid anymore, or at least he thought… Stopping just short, he spotted Mikah over the little hill sitting by the fire and taking down her hair. She laughed breathlessly with the others over something he hadn’t heard, the sound never failing to cause a flutter within his chest. 

She’d already put away her armor from what he could see, her faded rag of a red shirt hanging over her tiny frame in tatters. She looked to be winding down for the evening, and he was glad for it. It had been a difficult day, particularly for the pare of them. 

Mabe even more so than before, Alistair felt his heart swell as he watched her bidding the others a good night. Maker, she was so beautiful. The way the light of the fire made her golden hair shine, striking against her already porcile skin, giving it a warm glow that expressed her very nature. If he squinted he could just make out the spray of freckles that ghosted over her cheeks. She was just so-

Unbeknownst to him, he realized he was standing there, mouth gaping open, staring dumbfounded at the women he loved so dearly sitting all alone. He started back up at a headlong sprint. He had to get to her, he need to, he just had to get to her. And then there he was, standing in front of her. His chest heaving and blinking wide eyed as she tensed and reached for her bow. 

“Alistair, what is it?!” Mikah worried, jumping up from her perch atop a stump.

“Alright, I guess I really don’t know how to ask you this,” he panted lightly, his hands coming up as they usually did when he spoke.

“Are you… sweating?” Her brows furrowed with confusion and only the slightest bit of amusement as she took him in. He was often flustered by things, and Mikah only seemed to care for him more because of it.

“No! I-I-I mean yes. I mean... I’m a little nervous, sure.” he stammered, watching as her expression grew more bewildered, “Not! That this is anything bad or frightening or… well, yes.” He swallowed hard looking down. He tried to clear his head, but everything was bombarding him all at once and he just felt... 

Sighing deeply, Alistair closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was truly hopeless, no way was this going to end well. 

Then he felt it. The softest of touches pressing into his arm as Mikah eased him gently out of his state. When he finally opened his eyes he was greeted by her beautiful smile, her bright eyes staring up at him, quietly waiting for him to go on. 

In a way it made him loathe himself even more. She was so kind and patient, and she always tried to understand even when it wasn’t within her capability. By the Maker, he just couldn’t do it anymore, and finally he breathed in, deciding against his better judgment to give in and say all the things that he was feeling. 

“Oh, how do I say this? You’d think it would be easier, but every time I’m around you, I feel as if my head is about to explode,” he shook his hands out in front of him, “I-I-I can’t think straight.”

Alistair realized as soon as he said it, that it had been a mistake. Mikah’s easy grin faltering for a moment before she looked away, chuckling to herself.

“Well, that’s sweet,” she said. Unsure of how exactly to respond to something like that.

“I don’t mean it like that! I mean....” Alistair rushed, taking her by the hand and touching her face to bring it back around, “Alright let me start over, Mikah...” He rubbed her cheek gently with the pad of his thumb. 

She gazed up at him for a short time before nodding, bringing her fingers up to lace together with his. He stared at her much tinier hand for half a moment, wondering how something so small could turn him into such a mess. After awhile he took another deep breath, starting again, hopefully this time fully expressing the emotions that he felt so deeply.

“Here’s the thing,” he looked into her breathtakingly blue eyes, almost proving his point before stating it, “being near you makes me crazy, but I can’t imagine being without you… Not ever.” He let the weight of his words sink in.

Mikah contemplated that, her eyes looking down briefly before shooting back up in realization. “You, don’t mean-”

“I don’t know how to say this another way,” he continued, “I want to spend the night with you. Here, in the camp. Maybe this is too fast. I don’t know, but... I know what I feel.” 

It was the longest two seconds of his life waiting for her to say something. Her face blank and unreadable as he became more and more unsure. He might have just ruined the one good thing he actually had going for him. But then she surprised him as per their usual. Saying the one thing that he hadn’t expected.

“You’d want to spend the night with me... even though I’m not a human like you?” Her voice was quiet, and small. So unlike the brash and hard dwarf he’d come to know and love so fiercely. She wouldn’t even look at him as she uttered the words.

“Oh, Mikah!” he laughed heartily, cupping her face now with both hands, “Especially because of that! I wanted to wait for the perfect time, the perfect place… but when will it be perfect? If things were, we wouldn’t even have met!” 

She chuckled along with him, “Isn’t that the sodding truth.”

Smiling at her Alistair took a knee and took both of her hands in his, “We sort of… stumbled into each other, and despite this being the least perfect time, I still found myself falling for you in between all of the fighting and everything else. I really don’t want to wait anymore. “He paused, swallowing hard, “I’ve… I’ve never done this before. You know that. I want it to be with you… while we have the chance. In case…” He looked away, suddenly becoming stricken by the very real possibility that one of them, or both of them could be gone at any given time. 

“Don’t,” she said only the word, nothing else. Lowering their hands she helped him to his feet and leaded him away from the fire and to the weather beaten tent that she had claimed as her own. At first Alistair was hesitant, but she beckoned him forth with a soft smile. It wasn’t much for going unnoticed, but at least they were away from prying eyes, which they had a few to spare. 

As she led him in a feeling like that which nothing Alistair had ever experienced before took hold of him. He was both nervous and excited, cautious and anxious. But it was Mikah, for Maker’s sake. He wanted this, wanted her. He could do this, no matter how much he felt like his ribs were going to crack from the sheer speed in which his heart raced.

Once safely inside, Mikah abruptly turned to face him. For another, of maybe only a handful of times, nervousness colored her own pale face. “I- ah- sorry it’s not much.” She gestured around them. 

The tent was small yet spacious, more than enough room for a single dwarf. Yet, for a man such as him he still had to hunch to avoid hitting the roof.

“It’s lovely.” He took note, looking around the space and at all of the little nicknacks and furs she had accumulated over their journeys. He was also highly surprising the astonishing amount of pillows one person could hoard away, particularly one so small, “I see you don’t lack for bedding.” He chuckled taking a step closer and drawing her in.

“Yeah, I guess I never had things like this when I was growing up. I might have become just a little... overzealous... Just a smidge.” She laughed along with him, nuzzling her face into his body. 

“It’s adorable, really.” Alistair smiled a toothy grin down at her.

“Sure,” she brushed him off, “Here you can sit down. Make yourself more comfortable.” She half snorted to herself as she throw some things out of his way.

The atmosphere almost became palatable after that. The tension as she took a place between his open legs enough to bring a cold sweat to the back of Alistair’s neck.

“I-Ah.. I don’t know how these things are supposed to start exactly,” he blushed sheepishly.

Mikah simply smiled at him, drawing closer, “That’s ok. I’ll show you, Love.” And gently she wrapped her arms around him, leaning up on her haunches to plant a kiss upon his lips. It was tender and it was nothing for him to meld into it, tangling his fingers in her hair as her breath coasted across his face.

Bit by bit, they wore each other down. Picking apart the carefully laid walls that had protected them for so long. The weariness from the years of uncertainty fading as each piece of his armor was stripped away and toss somewhere unseen. 

It all became so natural to him within the span of a few heartbeats. Laying her down and into the pillow, to nip at her jaw and catch breath as she moaned into his embrace. It was beautiful and safe. Not perfect by any means, but perfect between them. And when she began to part before him it was easy to slip into the rhythm of peace that they had provided for one another since the beginning. One that last well into the night and early morning. 

“I love you,” Alistair sighed, “You know that, right? It was like a prayer a against the flesh as the sun slowly crept into their tent.

“I love you, too, Alistair,” Mikah sighed into the crook of his neck. Drawing the blankets round them as she drifted in and out. 

Alistair grinned a content smile to himself as he clutched her closer to his chest. Things would never be easy or perhaps even kind to them, but he could wish and pray upon hope, regardless. If one single moment would never fade, that if darkness and despair were all that was left, that this would be a moment that would. For always.


End file.
